May Empties 2017:

May has been an unexpectedly hot month here in the UK, so while I don’t have many products to talk about today, this is mostly influenced by my lack of wanting to put anything on my skin that wasn’t absolutely necessary. Makeup has been pretty much a no-go, as I wanted my skin to breathe as easily as it could, and it would just been a not-really-hot mess anyway. At most, my makeup routine has consisted of concealer to cover up acne when I stream and powder to keep it in place. One day I wore eyeliner and that was it. I just dread the repercussions during hot weather.

But on to the meat of the post: I planned to review this in-depth but when it came to swatching it for photos… I didn’t save enough. D’oh. I didn’t like the idea of writing a full-review of a product I can’t swatch so I reserved a spot on this post instead. This is the Global Protection Day Cream by Ren that I featured in my Sample Stash series a long time ago. For oily skin like mine, this was a bit too thick in texture but for drier skin types this will be perfect. I instead used this on my neck as I didn’t want to waste it. My only real gripe is the scent – it’s extremely strong, and frustratingly I can’t place what it smells of. But it wasn’t pleasant for me. So while an empty, this specific product is not something I will personally repurchase.

Next is an empty and declutter in one, which is the Seventeen Photo Flawless Lashes mascara in the colour “Black Copper“. I initially really liked this product, but towards the end of April/beginning of May, I found my eyes very irritated and watery, and over the course of two weeks, developed confidence that this product was the cause. As it hasn’t always made my eyes react this way though, I believe it had just gone-off and it took me longer than it should have to realise. Otherwise, when it’s a fresh, it’s a really nice product, albeit slightly flaky on oilier eyelids/lashes. I don’t see it listed online anymore, but I still see this on shelves in both Boots and Superdrug, unless they’ve recently discontinued it.

Finally, I think this is the first time I’ve featured a hair care product? I’m very low maintenance with my hair so unless you want to see a brief post about my hair routine and the products I use, I normally restrain from talking about my hair. However, after using this for a year, I finally finished up the L’Oreal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Clay Re-balancing Shampoo, which is targeted for oily roots and dry ends. My hair, like my skin struggles from oiliness where my roots and fringe start to look greasy after a day, so I’m in the slow process of trying hair products that can extend the time before my hair has to be washed. I quite like this product, although I still don’t know how much is the right amount as I went from using a tonne for my long hair, but since getting it cut short(er) a couple of months ago, I’m still figuring out how much I need. I would definitely repurchase this in the future, and I’m still using up the conditioner that goes alongside this shampoo. Expect to see that in a post towards the end of the year – I don’t think I’m even halfway done!

These are all of the products I emptied. I planned to write this post a lot sooner, but the weather has been very rainy and dark, and the lighting in my office has been terrible. Nonetheless, thank you for reading my blog post. I’m still stuck in a blogging slump, but I hope to kick it so I will write content as the inspiration hits me.